


The Filibusterer

by Cup_aTea



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Clint and Phil are Skye's dads, Kid Fic, M/M, drabble that expanded into fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 09:04:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7709083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cup_aTea/pseuds/Cup_aTea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skye wants to try out something she learned in civics class.  Who are Phil and Clint to say no? </p><p>(Aka, the only person nerdier than Phil Coulson wanting to practice a filibuster is Phil Coulson's kid)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Filibusterer

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired because I just watched the filibuster episode of the West Wing recently and I was wondering if people ever practiced filibusters. And then it occurred to me that a nerdy kid like Phil Coulson would try it. And the only thing better than kid Phil Coulson pretending to filibuster is Phil Coulson's kid doing the same thing.
> 
> This was just supposed to be a drabble, but Phil and Clint as dads were fun.
> 
> I'm not going to lie, it's only a matter of will power that I didn't title this 'Philibuster'. As usual unbeta'd and pretty slapdash, so if you catch anything, let me know.

 

 

**Saturday Afternoon**

 

Skye’s chatter was continuous from the living room. Clint braced himself on the counter next to where Phi had set up his laptop.

 

“Our daughter is driving me up the wall,” he said.

 

“I think with the level of tenacity she’s displaying, she clearly takes after you,” Phil said, not looking up from his computer.

 

“Uh, excuse you, this level of civic interest definitely comes from you.”

 

“I’m adopted!” Skye shouted from the other room, without breaking her stride.

 

“We know!” they both shouted back.

 

Clint dropped his head onto his arms with Skye droning on in the background.

 

“Ugggh.”

 

“You’ll get through it,” Phil said mildly. “You were trained to withstand interrogation; you can handle this.”

 

“Ngggh.”

 

“Just focus on how proud you are to be the parent of this wonderful, talented young woman who is either going to be outstanding student and leader, or a giant pain in the ass for someone,” Phil said, looking over the rims of his glasses.

 

Clint bumped his shoulder. “Well, when you put it that way.”

 

 

**Earlier that Week**

It started innocuously enough. On Tuesday, Skye asked if she could be excused from dinner early. When they asked why, she said she wanted to practice something they’d learned at school. Phil and Clint exchanged looks that were the parental equivalent of ‘Who is this kid, and what have they done with our daughter?’ and ‘I don’t know, but if she’s asking for more time to do school work, who are we to argue?’ So they said yes and she disappeared into her room. As they loaded the dishwasher they could hear her talking in her room, but she clearly wasn’t chatting with her friends.

 

“Speech for school?” Phil suggested.

 

Clint just shrugged.

 

It happened again on Wednesday night and then again on Thursday.

 

On Thursday, after she’d been at it for a few hours, Phil knocked on her door to remind her it was bedtime in half an hour. When he knocked, Skye came to the door mid-sentence, but she didn’t stop talking.

 

“Skye, what are you doing?” he asked, completely bemused.

 

“D _-ad_ , I’m practicing how to filibuster. And I’m not allowed to stop talking so I’m going to have to keep going while you talk.”

 

“Ok…” Phil said, not quite sure what to do with that. “You can keep going, but your bedtime is in half an hour and lights out in forty-five minutes. It’s a school night so no negotiating.”

 

“All right, Dad. I’ll be ready, I promise.” And she closed the door in his face, all the while still talking to herself.

 

Phil shook his head and went back to Clint in the living room, who laughed when he heard. “Only your kid, Phil.”

 

“Hey,” Phil said indignantly.

 

“What, are you saying you never did anything like that? I bet you practiced your school speeches endlessly.”

 

Phil’s ears went a little pink. “Well, yeah, but…”

 

Clint looked at him fondly.

 

“Remember that part where she’s a teenager now, and we’re just glad she’s safe and making good choices?” he said.

 

“Yeah,” Phil said softly before leaning in for a kiss. They kissed quietly on the couch for a little bit until Skye turned up.

 

“Ew, Dads!”

 

They turned to see her facing away with her hands over her eyes.

 

“I came in here to say good night and that I’m going to bed now.”

 

“G’night Skye,” said Clint.

 

“Good night, sweetheart. Do you need anything else before bed?” Phil asked.

 

“I’m thirteen, Dad, I’m not a little kid,” Skye said with an eyeroll. “Have fun being gross or whatever.”

 

She retreated back toward her room, and they heard one last, “Night, Dads!” before her door closed.

 

The next night, during their Friday dinner, Skye looked at them very seriously. “I know tomorrow’s Saturday, and I know it’s chore day and pizza night, but there’s something I want to do. I’ve been practicing filibustering all week and Ms. Mackie explained all the rules to me. So tomorrow, I wanna try to do it for real—to do it all day long. And I wanna do it in the living room so you know I’m doing it for real.”

 

“Is this an assignment for school?”

 

“No, I just really want to do it. It’s really hard, so how am I supposed to do it if I don’t practice? Dad, you always say it’s important to practice if you want to get good at something,” Skye said, turning her big brown eyes on Clint. “Plus, Stephanie said there was no way I could do it. We both did it the whole time at recess the other day, but that was only twenty minutes. She said I was probably lying about practicing this week. So I need you guys to time me so I can prove it. I promise I’ll do all my chores on Sunday and I’ll get all my homework done tonight.”

 

Phil and Clint shared a look.

 

“You know we have plans for Sunday afternoon? You sure you going to be able to get all of your chores done in the morning?”

 

Skye nodded.

 

“All day is a long time, honey. We don’t mind if you do it, but your dad and I reserve the right to stop you if we think you need it,” Phil said.

 

“I won’t need to,” she said, frowning.

 

“You probably won’t, but you know your dad is going to make sure you’re ok all the same,” Clint said. “Just one question, do we have to actually listen?”

 

“No, I just need you to be able to prove that I did it.”

 

“Ok then.”

 

 

**Saturday**

 

It was not quite nine am and everyone had showered and breakfasted. Skye had insisted that preparation was very important. In fact, last night after her request to take over the living room for the day, she had asked for tea with honey. Apparently the choir teacher had told her that it was very healing for voices.

 

Phil and Clint were both sitting on the couch (although Clint was still huddled around a coffee mug) when Skye turned up just before nine.

 

“Is she…wearing her nice clothes?” Clint whispered.

 

She was—she had on the nice khakis that Phil made her keep and a blouse that Nat and Pepper helped her pick out.

 

“Looks like she’s taking this seriously,” Phil said.

 

“Dad, what time is it?” Skye asked.

 

“8:59.”

 

“Ok, tell me when to start.”

 

Phil counted her down to 9:00 and away she went. Clint made it about twenty minutes before he had to get more coffee. Phil made it thirty before also retreating to the kitchen. Skye paid no attention and kept going.

 

The rest of the day was filled with several instagram pictures and plenty of tweets as Skye talked about her social life and her classes, and then moved on to reading the Harry Potter series. Phil’s posts were filled with comments like “look at our future politician in the making” and “this counts for extra credit, right?”, while Clint’s were more along the lines of “Help. This teenager has taken over our home and she won’t stop.” Their friends all thought it was hilarious and demanded video.

 

By four, Phil and Clint were both a little worried—she’d made it seven hours non-stop, but she was sounding pretty hoarse. Still, she kept going.

 

By five, she was losing her voice and they had concocted a plan.

 

Phil stepped into the living room and cleared his throat. “Excuse me, but I believe the rules allow for the person filibustering to yield the floor for a question. Would you yield for one?”

 

“Uh, yes?” said Skye.

 

“Well, your dad and I are old and hungry, and we’re pretty attached to our Saturday pizza. So we’re thinking of ordering some dinner and you can keep going until it’s delivered before joining us for dinner.”

 

“Well…” Skye hedged.

 

“That’ll mean you’ve filibustered for about eight and a half hours, which is longer than an entire school day. And to be honest, your dad and I are pretty hungry, so we’ll probably order anyway and then you’ll have to watch us eating it.”

 

“Well…”

 

“We’ll let you choose the movie,” Clint said from the kitchen.

 

“Anything I want?” Skye asked.

 

“Yes,” Clint said before Phil could stop him.

 

“Ok, but I’m going to keep going till it gets here. And you still have to time it!”

 

They ordered food, and when the doorbell went off at 5:38, Skye threw her arms up in the air and shouted “Yes!” before collapsing on the couch. A minute later she jumped back up and ran to the bathroom.

 

Six o’clock found them all lined up on the couch with Mad Max on the TV and a mug of tea with honey in front of Skye.

 

Seven-thirty found Clint carefully picking her up from where she’d fallen fast asleep and carrying her to bed. After tucking her in, he came and settled in next to Phil.

 

“I don’t think she’s worn herself out from talking all day since she was three,” he said, snuggling into Phil’s shoulder.

 

“Yeah,” Phil said with a smile. “Sometimes I miss those days, but then she does something like this to surprise me.”

 

“Yeah,” Clint said. He wrapped his arm around his husband and they finished the movie while their daughter slept in the next room.

 

And on Monday, Skye happily reported that Stephanie was speechless when she told her and they were no longer talking.

 

**Author's Note:**

> There will probably be one more scene/chapter to follow, just for giggles.


End file.
